A Few of Chelsea's Tattoos

Back in September, I met Chelsea in the lobby of 30 Broad Street in the Financial District.

She was sporting quite a few tattoos and she was kind enough to share some of her work with me and chat about it.

Check out this lovely neck tattoo:

Chelsea explains:

"The bird itself kind of resembles a robin, with the orange belly. But holds no particular meaning to me personally. My mother always grew peonies when I was growing up, so I wanted that flower. Originally planned to be a partner piece, with a nesting bird and different color peony on my left collar, but has been delayed as I am having work done on an extensive leg sleeve."

And also from her left arm:

There's a lot going on here, from the dominating chrysanthemum, to the knuckle tattoos, to the astronaut and the small lemon near her thumb.

Thankfully, Chelsea sorted it all out for me:

"The astronaut and the lemon were already on my hand [before the flower was added]. The lemon being one of my first tattoos about 8 years ago (Jacy Skelton, Jaded Angel, Ames IA) and the astronaut was a Friday the 13th tattoo from about 3 years ago (Kati Vaughn, Magic Cobra, Williamsburg Brooklyn). I asked Jeb to draw up a rose to fit around them. When I showed up for the appointment he said 'I know you wanted a rose, but I drew up this chrysanthemum instead.' I was in love and immediately trusted him. I loved that he took the initiative to draw up something that, although I had not asked for, he knew it would be a better fit. And it was!! The tattoo is now almost 2 years old and the color is still fresh and vibrant. My knuckles were designed by a friend, but tattooed by Jeb Maykut. They spell thirsty, TH,I,RS,TY."

Jeb Maykut (@jeb_maykut) is currently part of the amazing team at Saved Tattoo (@saved_tattoo) in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Chelsea for sharing her beautiful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Lexy’s Chrysanthemum Sprouts from a Poem

I was leaving my office building last week on Broad Street, when a woman named Lexy walked by with this great thigh tattoo:

I caught up to her, introduced myself and she agreed to share her ink with us here.

This piece was done by Alejandro Lopez, who is based in Pasadena, California, but works out of Addiction NYC when he's in the Big Apple.

When I asked her if she originally went to Alejandro for the chrysanthemum, she said that actually, she
had gone to him for this tattoo on her ribs:

“This is a poem,” she explained, “and I told [Alejandro] the meaning of the poem, and he reached out
to me and said, You know, I really like the poem, it resonated with me and he asked if he could expand
on it … And we sat down and talked about what the meaning was for me and he created this piece [the
chrysanthemum] based on what it meant to me.”

She indicated that the poem is Korean in origin, and it is in her grandmother’s handwriting. It turns
out that Lexy’s grandma was a professional calligrapher in Korea, and the red boxes are actual
representations of her grandparent’s pen names, or signatures, in Korean. How cool is that?

She elaborated a little more on the meaning of the poem:

“The poem itself is talking about whether you live or die as a nameless wildflower or a famous rose, it’s up to you, so you basically take control of your destiny, but [should] also have compassion for those who have no control … it also says something about the day that you’re born is the day that you die.”

Lexy also told me she was born in the year of the snake, which is why she has a cobra tattoo. I didn't think much of it at the time, as I didn't see a snake here.

When I was writing up this post, however, and looked at Alejandro's Instagram page, it all made sense. After getting his permission, along with Lexy's, I am happy to share the whole work-in-progress which, for obvious reasons, I never saw on Broad Street:

Photo Courtesy of Alejandro P. Lopez via http://instagram.com/alejandropaivalopez

Thanks to Lexy for sharing her wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! Thanks, as well, to Alejandro Lopez for sharing his Instagram collage so we could see his work in its full scope.

This entry is ©2014 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Megan Shares a Floral Sleeve from Edmonton

Back in May, I met Megan in Penn Station. She was visiting New York City from Edmonton, Alberta. Her lovely full sleeve caught my eye:

I mean, it really is spectacular:

With "love" and "faith" inscribed on her wrists, her arm is a bloom with roses, chrysanthemums, calendulas, and a bright sunflower at her shoulder, with a hummingbird fluttering on her back:

The pink flowers below the hummingbird are gladiolas. It's really quite an extraordinary sleeve.

Megan elaborated:

"It's all the birth flowers of the people in my family. The butterfly represents change, the rose represents love, and the hummingbird is for my grandma. The sunflower is for my mom."

She estimates that she has spent about 55 hours under the needle for this sleeve.

Megan credited Jessica Adler at Crimson Empire Tattoo in Edmonton.

Thanks to Megan for sharing her beautiful sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Sarah's Chrysanthemum

I spotted this lovely flower on Sarah while she was waiting for her train in Penn Station:

This chrysanthemum is her first tattoo and sits on her upper left arm. Sarah is a big fan of Eastern art and understands that chrysanthemums are symbols of joy (except in Germany, she noted). She feels that Russell Kelley at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey did a nice job of merging Eastern and Old School styles on this beautiful flower. Work from Silk City has appeared multiple times before and can all be seen under Silk City's Tattoosday label here.

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her tattoo with us, and Happy Labor Day from us here at Tattoosday!

Tattoosday Goes To Hawai'i: Mark's Sleeve Pays Tribute to East and West

I spent a good chunk of time at Ala Moana Center one of the days I was in Hawai'i. Even in paradise, malls are great places for inkspotting.

It was there that I met Mark, who had a full sleeve to offer up.

Now, before we begin, let me just say that I generally shy away from featuring full sleeves here on Tattoosday, out of respect to the host, the artist and, most of all, the tattoo. A work of art laid across flesh is often difficult to express in two-dimensional photos on a computer screen.

But Mark's sleeve was exceptional and I loved the color detail in the work. So let's check it out....

Items to note in this work:

Mark was born in the year of the Snake, which explains the serpent.

He was also born during Autumn, which is why the Japanese Maple leaves are sporting fall colors.

It's also generally non-traditional to see a bright red rose in a sleeve that is predominantly Japanese. He incorporated because he is, as he described it, "hapa," a shortened form of "hapa haole," or a person of mixed heritage, part of which is Caucasian. To make a long story short, the red rose is a nod to the "Western" aspect of his lineage, as it is more a traditional element in tattoos in the west. The rose is complimented by the chrysanthemum, which is a more traditional Japanese flower design.

Similarly, the skull element at the top of the arm is more of a Western flavor, juxtaposed nicely with another chrysanthemum.

I also love the multicolored pebbles in the design. They really pop out, especially among the milder tones of the autumn leaves and snake scales.

Mark informed me that the whole sleeve was completed in five or six sittings by Lucky Olelo at Soul Signature Tattoo in Honolulu.

Thanks to Mark for sharing his amazing work with us here on Tattoosday!